A kitchen garden provides you with fresh vegetables-and will look good doing it, too! Learn how to plan a kitchen garden in the style of either a traditional row garden layout or a potager garden, which intermixes vegetables, fruit, flowers, and herbs. A kitchen garden is a small, compact space, located close to the house (ideally near the kitchen) where you can quickly nip out to get herbs, tomatoes, salad greens or other delicious produce when cooking. They often also incorporate a sitting area, and are more curated and aesthetically pleasing than large vegetable gardens.
Planning a kitchen garden begins with inspiration. These kitchen gardens were often community affairs, especially in large cities like Chicago and New York. Families planted many types of root and vine vegetables that keep well over the winter-potatoes, carrots, squash and pumpkins, and cucumbers.
For example, if you want to grow tomatoes, a rectangular garden with lots of space between each plant is better than a square one with only a few plants. If you want to grow strawberries, a smaller garden close to the ground with plenty of sunlight is better than a large garden in the shade. A kitchen garden is a small, functional garden that is used exclusively to grow vegetables and herbs for cooking and use within the kitchen.
And, believe it or not, they're not too difficult to pull off. Here's your all-encompassing guide for how to start, plan, and grow a kitchen garden, as well as how to continue to keep it thriving all year. This Garden Bed Layout Works Well in Large, Square Spaces The four-garden classic requires a space that's square (or nearly square) in shape and at least 15 feet wide.
Each of the raised beds in this garden layout are the same size, typically 4 feet, 6 feet, or 8 feet long and 2 to 4 feet wide. We often design raised beds to be rectangular for this classic layout, but we've also had spaces. Creating your kitchen garden is a fun and cheap way to grow fresh vegetables, herbs, and fruits.
You can plan your garden layout based on your growing space and budget. This could be a raised bed garden, vegetable garden containers, or a mix of edible plants. A kitchen garden gives you homegrown ingredients.
It also allows for creative garden design that inspires your meals and gives you rich. Get inspired with some fresh kitchen garden ideas from Nicole Burke, founder of Rooted Garden, in our detailed kitchen garden guide. Kitchen Garden Design Ideas: Explore raised beds, pathways, and vertical trellises for a stunning setup.
Large Kitchen Garden Ideas In areas with plenty of space, you can add in more than just some lettuces and root crops. Grow your favorite fruit with a dwarf species. Train grape vines on a fence.
Add pollinator attractions in the form of lavender, Calendula, bee balm, and other flowering plants. Keep pests away with companion plants and herbs. Rotate your seed plants annually to prevent disease.
